This invention relates to outboard drive units and, more particularly, to a drive unit for use with a watercraft, such as a pleasure boat.
Conventional marine outboard drive units are supported on a transom of a boat and can be tilted about a horizontal tilt axis. When required for storage, servicing or repair, the drive units are tilted upward to raise the units above the water surface. There is no intermediate tilting position during operation of a watercraft; conventional outboard motors are submerged during operation below the water surface.
The majority of outboard motors are equipped to run in the water. A special category of outboard motors is designed to run in muddy waterways, in shallow water and in the body of water that has overgrown with vegetation. In such cases, the conventional outboard drive unit becomes almost useless, especially if vegetation wraps around the rotating portion of the propeller shaft or when the propeller shaft encounters particularly viscous or hard obstacles. There also exists a possibility of the propeller striking an underwater tree stump with a disastrous result.
The special category of mud propellers utilizes what is known as a “go-devil”—a special extended rod with a wide steering radius of up to 72 inches that helps raise the propeller out water or move it sideways in case of heavy obstructions. However, these types of drive units are difficult to operate and require special skill.
The present invention contemplates elimination of drawbacks associated with the prior art and provision of an outboard drive unit that can be tilted to extend partially above water and that would allow the watercraft to move safely in clear water as well as mud, while protecting the propeller unit.